The CES network, long infused by Essential schools’ early adoption of and commitment to advisories, is rich with resources to help plan and refine advisories. Connect with regional CES centers to find profession development opportunities in your area. As well, some Essential schools have collected their learnings about advisories and offer workshops and resource materials. Some examples from CES Mentor Schools:

The Wildwood Outreach Center

Based at the Wildwood School in Los Angeles, The Wildwood Outreach Center Provides workshops for educators and small school advocates, including a one-day workshop on advisory programs in which participants learn about the benefits that a structured advisory program can have in their school or get new ideas on how to improve an existing advisory program.

The workshop includes information on advisory purpose and design, curriculum, protocols, implementation training and reference materials. Wildwood also offers The Advisory Toolkit, a step-by-step guide for educators who want to create or enhance and advisory program at their school. The Advisory Toolkit includes a 45-minute DVD on the advisory programs at four schools accompanied by a detailed workbook. Topics include advisory purpose, design, implementation, faculty training and advisory curriculum. The Toolkit will be available in mid-October and costs $79.95.

For more information: www.wildwood.org/outreach/workshops.asp

The Regional Teachers Center at Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School

The Regional Teachers Center, in Devens, Massachusetts, offers a range of professional development opportunities including a two-day institute devoted to advisories. “The Promise of Advisories: Making Personal Connections Between Adults and Students” focuses on advisory program design, giving participants an opportunity to create a vision for an advisory program and develop a plan for successful implementation.

Participants will leave the institute with an understanding of the importance of developing consensus around a clearly defined purpose; materials and structures to help think about questions of program organization; examples of advisory content, including several commonly used protocols and routines; tools designed to assess program effectiveness; and samples of professional development plans to ensure the successful implementation and ongoing support for an advisory program

For more information: www.parker.org/rtc

As well, CES National’s Small Schools Project is collecting examples of exemplary practice, including material on advisories, to be features in CES ChangeLab, launching in early 2005. Keep and eye on www.ceschangelab.org for more!